Crashed Lives

Crashed Lives is a road safety campaign featuring true life case studies in which people speak about the consequences of a crash or about the loss of loved ones in road collisions and how it has changed their lives forever - and robbed everyone of their dreams.

The message behind the new ‘Crashed Lives’ campaign is that drink driving destroys lives, families and communities. Earlier this year, the RSA’s Pre-Crash Report on Alcohol, which examined Garda forensic investigation files into fatal crashes between 2008 and 2012, showed that alcohol was a factor in 38% of all fatal collisions (driver, passenger, pedestrian, motorcyclist and cyclist), claiming the lives of 286 people. 29% of drivers and motorcyclists killed had consumed alcohol. This is why the new TV advert which is part of the ‘Crashed Lives’ series focused on drink driving.

Four year old Ciarán Treacy was killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver in April 2014. His mother Gillian, her husband Ronan, the Emergency Services who attended the collision and the medical team who fought to save Ciarán’s life are all featured in the latest ‘Crashed Lives’ ad campaign from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána. The ad was launched Thursday 1 December, as part of the RSA and An Garda Síochána Annual Christmas and New Year Road Safety Campaign.

Ciarán Treacy was killed when the car he was travelling in with his mother Gillian and brother Seán was hit by a drunk-driver. Ciarán died as a result of the collision while Gillian was left with devastating injuries. The ad features home videos of Ciarán playing with his brother and sister in the garden and laughing and smiling in the car, a picture of happiness and innocence. We hear the stories of Ciarán’s parents Gillian and Ronan, Sergeant Dave Lynam and Paramedic Christy Kelly who attended the collision, and Nurses Patrice O’Connell and Mary Joyce who fought to save Ciarán’s life.

The new 90” ‘Crashed Lives’ TV advert shows exactly how drink driving can smash so many lives to pieces. It focuses on a crash in which Ciarán Treacy was killed and all of the people who were affected as a result of Ciarán’s death. It shows the immediate family, learning to cope with physical and emotional trauma, the emergency service workers, people who arrived at the scene, nurses, the wider family and community. It reminds us that a crash is never just one person - it sends shockwaves throughout lives, families and communities.

The message is simple - stop and think of Ciarán the next time you consider drink-driving, find another way home and never ever drink and drive.

The campaign will be supported by a full social and online campaign, cinema and a radio advert. The digital campaign features 10 short ten second vignettes featuring people who were directly affected by the collision. This includes those first to arrive on scene, the paramedics, the ICT nurse, the Fire Brigade and the Treacy family themselves.

These will be shared on our social media sites throughout the campaign to remind everyone the sheer number of people that are affected by a fatal collision - it’s not just the people in the car.

The first ‘Crashed Lives’ ads were launched in December 2007 and a second series followed in December 2008. The third series of ads include three true life accounts and features Siobhán O’Brien, Marjorie Flood and Dr Áine Carroll who share their story of how the consequences of road crashes have affected their lives.

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